AUBURN, Alabama -- Only two coaches made the trip from Arkansas State to Auburn with Gus Malzahn.

Offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee is Malzahn's right-hand man, the protégé who knows the hurry-up, no-huddle offense almost as well as the architect himself.

After one year working for Malzahn, offensive line coach J.B. Grimes says he has a different role.

"Gus is the contractor. I'm the sub-contractor. Gus and Rhett are the two guys that are instrumental in detailing what they do with this offense," Grimes said. "What they want me to do is get those five guys to blocking folks, and I can do that."

Grimes says he's still learning the ins and outs of Malzahn's offense, but the pairing between offensive line coach and scheme worked for Arkansas State last season. Under Grimes' tutelage, the Red Wolves' offensive line gave up only 15 sacks in 2012 and paved the way for a running attack that finished 23rd in the country in rushing with 2,681 yards in 2012.

Part of the reason is that Grimes has spent decades teaching the same plays used in the hurry-up, no-huddle.

Auburn's running game is built around a two-back attack based on a power game derived from the Wing-T. Malzahn's running plays are built around the power, the counter, the sweep, the inverted veer and the inside zone.

"You've always got to be tweaking things but it’s a system that’s been true over time for 20-plus years from the high school to the college level," Lashlee said. "There's a core to the offense, there is a base to the offense and that has always been there."

Grimes knows how to block those core plays. After a career spent coaching at Arkansas State, Kansas, Mississippi State, East Carolina, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Virginia Tech and others, Grimes has spent a lot of time teaching offensive linemen to block power plays like the ones in Auburn's offense.

"I know how to block the inside zone, I know how to
block the power, I know how to block the counter, I know how to block those
plays, and I know the blocking schemes, and I know how to teach guys to do
that," Grimes said. "Against every kind of front known to man."

Before the fall arrives and Grimes starts scheming how to block plays against individual opponents, he has to turn an Auburn offensive line that averaged just 2.6 yards per carry in SEC play into the road-graders needed in Malzahn's scheme.

"You can't finesse your way through a game," Grimes said. "It's a tough game, played by tough people. At some point, you've got to knock people around."

The hurry-up, no-huddle is based out of spread formations, but Malzahn and Lashlee have made it clear in multiple press conferences since taking over at Auburn; the offense is built around a downhill running game.

When Malzahn was Auburn's offensive coordinator from 2009 to 2011, the Tigers ran the ball more than 60 percent of the time each year.

"Well, I think it's one of those things where you get the term spread,
and people automatically think you're throwing the ball all over the place, and
you're not very physical," Grimes said. "Nothing
could be further from the truth."

Malzahn and Lashlee will design the offense and call the plays.

But it's up to Grimes to make sure the guys up front bring the physicality needed to make it work.